From Maduabuchi Nmeribeh, Kano
The Kano Field Office of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), has tasked the media on the need to always set agenda for the welfare, interest and development of the children.
The Communication Specialist for UNICEF Kano Field Office, Mr. Samuel Kaalu, gave the task during a Capacity Building Workshop for Media, organized for selected journalists from Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states.
The two-day workshop holding at Grand Central Hotel, Kano, was organized by UNICEF Kano Field Office, in collaboration with Kano state owned Abubakar Rimi Television (ARTV).
Kaalu regretted that the plight of vulnerable children continue to rise ranging from the cases of malnutrition, increasing number of out-of-school children, child labour, as well as inadequacies in girl-child education.
In his presentation during the workshop, Kaalu made a wake-up call on journalists to rekindle the passion of the profession through publication and broadcasting of human angle stories designed to sit-up the government and other stakeholders on the need to take the welfare of the children very seriously.
He further refreshed the knowledge of participants on the best ways of using certain theories of the journalism profession such as Agenda Setting, Social Responsibility, and Uses and Gratification to push stories that can have great impact on the welfare and development of the children in the country.
Kaalu who enumerated the objectives of the rwo-day workshop also discussed why UNICEF was focussing on children, as well as given cogent reasons UNICEF partner with the media to project the welfare of children.
Kaalu also emphasized on the need for journalists to focus on human interest stories capable of exposing the plight of children in the society.
In his presentation, a Senior Editor cum Media Consultant, Onche Odey, lectured the participants on the principles of journalism and key elements professional journalists must consider while writing stories.
Dr. Godfrey Njoku also tutored participants on how to compose compelling stories that bear the interest and welfare of the children.
Participants were drawn from different media organizations and online platforms in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states.
